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Siege of Chencang
Seeing that Wei was taking a beating from Wu in the east, Zhuge Liang decided it was a good opportunity to make another attack against Wei. However, upon reaching the city of Chencang he found if staunchly defended by General Hao Zhao. Whatever Zhuge Liang did Hao Zhao countered, eventually forcing Zhuge Liang to retreat. Background Chencang was a city about west of Mei (about 175 km west of Chang'an) in the Youyufeng commandery of the Sili province. Chencang is by the Wei river and near the exit of the San pass (if coming from the south). Capturing and holding Chencang would give Shu control of the San pass and they could safely being forces or supplies north from Yi province. At the Battle of Jieting, Great General of the Central Army Cao Zhen had dealt a blow to Zhuge Liang but he believed he would soon take an opportunity to return. Cao Zhen thought the next road Zhuge Liang would take would take him past Chencang. In anticipation of Zhuge Liang's actions, he dispatched General Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng 王生 (Wang Shuang 王雙?) to reinforce and repair the city.SGZ Biography of Cao Zhen. Cao Xiu had just been lured into a trap and badly defeated by Wu. And that Wei troops were moving eastwards to reinforce the area against Wu. Zhuge Liang decided it was a good opportunity to launch another campaign north against Wei. The Battle Zhuge Liang led several tens of thousandsSGZ Biography of Hao Zhao, from Weilue in Cao Rui's Biography. of troops through San Pass and laid siege to Chencang, which at the time only had 1,000+ men garrisoned there. Zhuge Liang sent Jin Xiang to convince Chencang to submit. The defender of Chencang, Hao Zhao, was from the same county as Jin Xiang, so Zhuge Liang thought he could successfully convince him to surrender. Jin Xiang tried repeatedly, but Hao Zhao would not bend, forcing Zhuge Liang to commence his siege. Zhuge Liang built scaling ladders and movable turrets and advanced his troops forward. Hao Zhao responded with flaming arrows; he set fire to the scaling ladders, burning them and the assailants; and suspended large millstones with ropes and swung them at the towers, destroying them. Zhuge Liang built catapults and fired at the city; he brought forth dirt and filled up the moats so he could have men scale the city walls. Hao Zhao countered by building another walled city within the city limits. Zhuge Liang had sappers dig tunnels under the new walls, but Hao Zhao countered by digging moats within his walls and intercepting the tunnels. For 20 days and nights, the Shu forces besieged the Chencang but it would not fall. Cao Zhen sent General Fei Yao to relieve Chencang. Zhuge Liang's supplies were exhausted and he withdrew. General Wang Shuang led his cavalry in pursuit of Zhuge Liang's forces but is easily defeated in battle. General Zhang He was also dispatched with 30,000 troops but Zhang He predicted Zhuge Liang would be forced to retreat due to supply shortage before he arrived, which turned out to be correct.SGZ Biography of Zhang He. Notes According to Cao Zhen's biography, he suspected Zhuge Liang would attack Chencang and he sent Hao Zhao to reinforce the city. However, Hao Zhao's biography only states 1,000+ soldiers within the city, which doesn't seem particularly well reinforced, although Hao Zhao is an incredibly staunch defender. Cao Zhen's bio. also notes he sent a General Wang Sheng along with Hao Zhao, this may be a mistaken reference to Wang Shuang. Fact vs Fiction References Sources Category:Battles